Rep. Richie Torres: My school was named after two slain NYPD cops their killer was released from prison
In 2000, I was a sixth-grade student at a Bronx intermediate school that bore the name of two policeofficers murdered in the line of duty: Waverly Jones and Joseph Piagentini.I never imagined that, less than two decades later, the murderer of these two officers, Herman Bell, would be released from prison.The New York State Board of Parole, which released Bell, made the equally disgraceful decision to release from prison Lee Ernest Walker, who murdered in cold blood an NYPD officer named Juan Andino, shooting him in the head and face over a pair of sunglasses.Releasing murderers like Walker from prison serves no public interest at all.
It only serves to re-victimize the loved ones of the murder victims, causing them to relive the indelible trauma of losing a loved one.The only proper and proportional punishment for the murder of a police officer is the murderer rotting inprison for the rest of his life.Certain crimes, like the murder of a police officer, should never be a candidate for parole and should never be left to the discretion of an ideologically-charged parole board.The Board of Parole is so out of touch with the People of New York, so utterly lacking in moral common sense, that it has shamelessly released 43 cop killers since 2017 — a trend that shows no sign of stopping unless stopped by the governor, whose silence has been deafening.When determining the fate of an inmate, the Board of Parole all but ignores the nature of the crime itself, as well as the needs of the crime victims.
No crime or criminal, it seems, is too heinous for a parole board that feels neither shame nor guilt aboutreleasing cold-blooded cop killers.The practice of coddling cop killers is profoundly demoralizing to the NYPD at a time when the department is confronting a chronic crisis of recruitment and retention.
It sends a chilling message that the State of New York fundamentally devalues the lives of the men and women who risk their own safety for the safety of New Yorkers.Why...